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LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego fencing team will take part in its first event of 2011 this week, hosting the NCAA West Invitational on Saturday. The Tritons will be tested by top-notch Division I teams as they face off against squads from Stanford, Air Force, Northwestern, Caltech and Florida during the event. Each team will participate in five rounds, with the first beginning at 10:00 am at RIMAC Arena.

UCSD was last in action during the BladeRunner Tournament, November 13-14, on the UCSD campus. The turnout was the largest in the 15-year history of the event, as 265 fencers competed over two days. Jia Jie Wu earned the highest finish of the day for the Triton women, placing third in women's foil, while teammates Rose Forcier and Amrit Khalsa finish seventh and eighth in the field, respectively.

Brennan Louie had the top performance for coach Heidi Runyan during the event, emerging as champion in men's foil after fighting off severe cramping in both legs. Freshman Luc Ginestet took home silver in men's epee and squad captain Michael Fong earned bronze in men's foil.

UCSD traveled to Stanford for last year's NCAA West Invitational, where the women's team defeated the Cardinal on their home turf by a 16-11 margin and topped Detroit Mercy, 25-2. The men also dominated Detroit Mercy, 24-3, while men's foil topped Stanford, 7-2, before falling by an 16-11 margin to the host school. Benjamin Dorn and Joseph Schenkel each posted 3-1 records as part of the men's foil squad.

After this weekend's event, the Tritons will travel to Dallas to take part in the North American Cup, scheduled for Friday, January 14 through Monday, January 17.